Yesterday, Lisa announced her resignation from Outspoken Media and we hope you join us in wishing her the best of luck on the road ahead. With an undeniable talent, and a voice as strong as hers, we are excited to see where she goes next. It’s been three amazing years, and we couldn’t have gotten to this point without her.
Lisa’s brand has been intangibly tied to Outspoken Media as the voice of this blog and our community. We recognize Lisa’s a tough act to follow and we can never replace her, but we have great talent that’s ready for the opportunity to take more of a leadership role with the brand. I promise we will not let this community fade. We owe that to you and ourselves.
We wouldn’t be where we are today without your continued support, readership, and communication. You—our readers, friends, and colleagues—make Outspoken Media what it is, and we are going to continue to bring you the same honest, sometimes in-your-face content you’ve come to expect from us.
What does the next chapter look like for Outspoken Media?
What you won’t find:
Lisa 2.0
Yes, there will be featured writers and a social media manager, but we’ll be moving to a more diverse voice that focuses on a community-based environment versus one strong voice.
Weekend Coffee Links
These were a perfect place for Lisa to collect her findings from the week prior. Random bits of humor and insight that didn’t belong to a single post, but also deserved more than a tweet. With WCL retiring, don’t worry, there’s still Cup of Joe from Joe Hall.
Monthly Link Roundups
The entire Outspoken Media team will be blogging more, so we’ll be turning our interesting finds into something tangible, actionable, or a strongly worded commentary (remember, we *are* Outspoken Media).
What you can expect to see:
More of me
Hi, I’m Rhea Drysdale. I run this ship. I’m usually buried in client reports, e-mails, and team meetings. It’s time to break out of my very comfortable shell and get to know you. What you need to know about me is that I can be pretty straightforward. Lisa was vocal on the blog and I’m vocal in business. I’m honest with our clients and the team, which means I’ll forget pleasantries at times, but the trade-off is passion and experience. I love this industry and that’s what I’ll be bringing to you.
A lot more from these guys:
Michelle Lowery
Michelle is our content maven and many of you know her from her recent liveblogging coverage. Michelle produces and coordinates all of the content for our clients, assists with SEO audits, and client strategy development. She also helps train and ensure quality from the team with their outreach methods, and is the resident word nerd we go to with all our grammar questions.
Joseph Schaefer
Joseph is my right-hand man when it comes to technical SEO. He produces SEO audits and link development strategies for clients. He’s also responsible for client reporting and analytics, and always makes himself available to help the team. He keeps all of us informed, focused, and laughing.
Danika Atkins
Danika loves clients, and not just a little. She would probably marry a couple if she could. She gets results. She’s also getting her MBA, and loves all things business, so she helps with proposals and operations, often referring to the team as “human capital.” We know she means it affectionately.
Emily Cote
Emily is the heart of the team. She keeps us on-task and motivated, while also kicking serious booty with link development and social media management. Don’t let that description fool you—she’s also one of the quickest SEOs I’ve ever trained, and will attack any SEO audit we throw her way. She will be doing a lot more Outspoken Media-focused work for us including newsletter management, social strategies, and community development.
Conference Attendance and Coverage
Were you worried we’d stop liveblogging? Hardly. Michelle Lowery will take up this torch, and she’s already killed it with Searchlove, Pubcon Vegas and Linklove. Feel free to send her your PowerPoints and bribes!
I’ll still be speaking at conferences, and you can expect to see me on a well-rounded set of panels. Yes, I speak often about online reputation management, and we do provide great work to those in need of help. However, we also do a lot of link development, SEO audits, and social media marketing. Don’t believe me? Take a look at our service breakdown from 2011 (Not what you were expecting, huh? That’s our reputation problem and it’s time to fix it.):
Videos
We love videos. I love them especially because I’m an extrovert who doesn’t know how to think without speaking. Keep your eyes peeled; we’re going to be rolling out a new project we think will add tremendous value to the community.
OSM Newsletter
Guess what? Newsletters are pretty cool. They help us keep in touch with you about the really important stuff. Too bad we’ve never done anything with the e-mails we collect! Time to change that. You gave us your feedback on what you’d like to see in a newsletter, and we’ve been working with the amazing DJ Waldow to set up a solution that will bring value and humor to your inbox once a month.
A look inside Outspoken Media
Speaking of your feedback, you mentioned wanting the following:
We listened. We’ll be sharing a lot more of the Outspoken Media antics and what we’re up to, whether it’s ensuring everyone is on the same page when it comes to how the toilet paper should fall:
or how we’re supporting our favorite non-profits and organizations. The team recently sat down to talk about what we value. All of us want to see more active involvement with the causes we love, so we’re going to make that happen.
More Guides
A lot of people really loved the ORM guide. We released it back in 2009. It’s out of date, and in need of a makeover, so that’ll be released soon. We’re also going to bulk up on other guides we feel will help you with your Internet marketing campaigns and branding. We’re taking requests, so let us know in the comments if there’s something you want to learn more about!
More Social Media Management
We know you LOVE US; now you just have to like us! Follow Outspoken Media on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest to get unique content, tips, and interesting tidbits we think are awesome. Keep showing us love, and we’ll give it back in spades.
Guest Posts and Interviews
We’re accepting guest posts. Yes, I made you read to here to mention that. Mwahaha. Have something you think would be a great fit for the blog? We’re going to be pretty picky about the content we host, so if you contact us, make sure you bring your A game. We’re especially interested in featuring writers from complementary and innovative industries.
Local Involvement
We love Troy, NY. Whether we’re participating in and sponsoring Tech Valley’s first Startup Weekend, or organizing speakers and topics for Social Media Breakfast, we want to continue to support the local industry. Cultivating talent, honing our skills, and networking with some of the Capital District’s best is vital. This business is only as good as the city and community that supports it. We are going to keep giving back, and hope to see you out and about!
That’s it for now. Phew! Trust me, there’s more. We have a lot up our sleeve, so stay tuned because right now, we’re only limited by hours in the day. The future of Outspoken Media is now, and we are fired up about it. Thank you for your continued support. It means everything to us, and there is so much awesome coming up, we are STOKED!
